Delhi: PWD set to miss June 15 deadline to desilt drains

The new deadline is mid-July. Officials attributed the delay to late awarding of tenders and additional work such as personal monitoring and weekly reports

With the monsoon inching closer to the national Capital, the Public Works Department (PWD) is set to miss the June 15 deadline for desilting major drains across the city as less than 60% of the work has been completed so far, officials aware of the work said.

PWD desilts a drain near West Vinod Nagar and leave silt on the road near NH24 in April. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The officials attributed the delay to late awarding of tenders and additional work such as personal monitoring and weekly reports assigned by senior officials.

“Work orders were issued late this year, and that affected our schedule. We are trying to catch up and hope that all of the work will be completed by mid-July,” a PWD official said.

PWD minister Parvesh Verma had earlier said that small tenders for brief periods had affected work quality in the last few years,so it was decided that desilting and road repair work will be awarded for at least two years.

“Now onwards, the PWD work will be assigned to contractors for two full years and they will have to ensure desilting and maintenance for the entire period. This will ensure bigger tender value and only larger firms with better resources and equipment apply for the work. Additionally, one contractor will be responsible for all maintenance like repair and desilting through two years,” Verma said on Friday.

On the other hand, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC), which maintains several key stormwater drains and flood-prone areas, has reported nearly 90% completion of its part of desilting operations. According to officials, I&FC had finalised its contracts by early April, enabling a timely start to field work.

The Delhi government, anticipating a normal to above-normal monsoon this year, in May issued directions to all civic and infrastructure agencies to treat desilting as top priority.

Earlier, the Delhi government had announced that officials will be held responsible if waterlogging occurs in areas identified by the authorities. Every year, monsoon sets in Delhi by end of June and PWD sets the target to complete desilting by end of June, which goes on till July.

In the national Capital, the PWD manages around 2,026 kilometers of drains running along the 1,400 kilometre of roads, which merge with bigger drains under the jurisdiction of I&FC which further have outfall in Yamuna.

According to the PWD, 308 waterlogging points were identified in Delhi in 2023. Now, in 2025, based on data shared by the traffic police, a total of 445 waterlogging points have been identified in Delhi. Of these, 335 points fall under the PWD’s jurisdiction.